A primary school teacher is to spend several hours every Friday dressed as a tree outside Harrogate Borough Council’s offices as a protest against plans to extend a bottling plant in the Pinewoods.
Sarah Gibbs, who lives in Knaresborough, does not want the council to approve Harrogate Spring Water’s expansion plans, which would include felling trees.
Ms Gibbs began her one-woman protest at the council from 8am to 3.30pm on Friday and intends to repeat it every Friday for the foreseeable future.
Being a lone protester in the cold winter months will be tough but Ms Gibbs is passionate about the cause.
Dressed as a tree outside the council building and moving to keep herself warm, she told the Stray Ferret:
“I was here last Friday, I am here today and I will be here every Friday to demonstrate the importance of this issue.
“I just felt that I had to do something else and make more of a stand so I have planted myself here.
“There are lots of different groups working on this so I am hopeful they will take that into account and reject the proposal.”
A council decision on whether to grant Danone permission to extend its water bottling plant has been delayed from December until the new year.
The delay is to allow further discussions between Danone and environmental groups about the company’s plans to compensate for the loss of trees and biodiversity.
It means Ms Gibbs could be protesting for many weeks to come.
Read more:
- Harrogate Spring Water Pinewoods plans: decision delayed
- Greens petition against Harrogate Spring Water’s Pinewoods plans
A spokesperson for Pinewoods Conservation Group told the Stray Ferret it hoped the extra time would result in a plan that is “acceptable to all parties”.
The spokesperson said:
“We welcome the pause on this planning application and the offer from Harrogate Spring Water for further discussion on this important topic.
“There was a clear condition on the original planning application that there must be replacement land and trees to compensate for the ecological loss to the area.”
A life of campaigning and activism
Not only does Ms Gibbs protest against Pinewood but she is also a fierce critic of the high speed train line, HS2.
If the project, which has a £44.6 billion budget for its first phase, goes ahead Sarah believes it would be an environmental disaster.
She feels so passionately she travels around the country and ties herself to trees to get her message across and put pressure on government.
“It might not be happening outside my doorstep but my local environment is connected to the rest of the UK and the world. I wanted to see the truth of HS2 for myself. There’s absolute devastation taking place.
“I think that HS2 will result in ecological collapse. Those animals will return to their habitats but they will no longer be there. It is just insanity, none of it really makes sense to me. Without the protesters there we fear what they will do.”
The government disputes Ms Gibbs’ claims and believes HS2 is critical for the UK’s low carbon transport future.
The high speed rail line will connect the likes of London, Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester and Edinburgh.
However, Ms Gibbs believes the economic and environmental cost of the project is too high.
Some projections put the full cost at £230 billion. The Wildlife Trusts found that it would risk the loss of 693 wildlife sites and 108 ancient woodlands.
A before and after picture of Rugby Road where Sarah protested against HS2.
Ms Gibbs’ experience of campaigning at Rugby Road (pictured above) near Leamington Spa at the end of August until the beginning of October had a major impact. She said:
“The space they are clearing is phenomenal. When you start looking into it you think ‘I can’t not do something’ even if it is just signing a petition online or going to a camp. Any small or big actions can make a difference.
“I have seen some real brutality against the protesters. People have had their fingers broken but it doesn’t deter me. If anything it makes me feel more determined and makes people want to fight against HS2 more.”
